St. Peter's Catholic Church (Rensselaer, Missouri)
St. Peter's Catholic Church | |
| Location | Southwest of Rensselaer on Route 2, near Rensselaer, Missouri |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°37′11″N 91°36′14″W / 39.61972°N 91.60389°W |
| Area | 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) |
| Built | 1862 |
| Built by | Kielty, Rev. Francis M.; Hogan, Martin |
| NRHP reference No. | 80002392 |
| Added to NRHP | November 14, 1980 |
St. Peter's Catholic Church, also known as Brush Creek Church, is a historic Catholic church near Rensselaer, Ralls County, Missouri.
After an original building constructed in 1845, the current church was built about 1862, and is a one-story, rectangular limestone building with limestone and sandstone ornamentation. It is topped by a gable roof with belfry.It features lancet windows and has a frame two-room addition sheathed in weatherboard.: 2
The church is where Augustus Tolton, the first openly African-American Catholic priest, was baptized; he has since been put on the path to sainthood. The church was closed in 1968, reduced to the status of a chapel, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. A memorial to the enslaved buried in the church's cemetery was blessed in 2025.